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Dressing box with looking glass
Carved by: Samuel McIntire (American, 1757–1811)
1800–1810
Object Place: Boston/Roxbury or Salem, Massachusetts
Medium/Technique
Mahogany with mahogany and satinwood veneers, white pine, gesso and gilt, glass
Dimensions
Overall: 78.1 x 53 x 34.9 cm (30 3/4 x 20 7/8 x 13 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
The M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts
Accession Number23.20
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsFurniture – Case furniture and boxes
This small dressing box descended in the Derby family and is likely one of three listed in the inventory of Oak Hill. The carving of the mirror frame and supports are by Samuel McIntire. The cabinetmaker who crafted the box-with its radiating inlay of alternating dark mahogany and lighter satinwood-is unknown, but this patterned effect and the central, painted-shell inlay relate to Elizabeth Derby's demilune (half moon) commode, on view in the adjacent gallery.
Catalogue Raisonné
Eighteenth-Century American Arts No. 136
InscriptionsIn graphite on underside of case: two arrows head to head.
In graphite on the bottom of the top drawerL "Top"
In graphite on back of second drawer: "V3"
In chalk on bottom of case: "Lander"
In graphite on the bottom of the top drawerL "Top"
In graphite on back of second drawer: "V3"
In chalk on bottom of case: "Lander"
ProvenanceMade for Elizabeth Derby West, Oak Hill, Peabody, Massachusetts. by descent through the Derby, West, Lander, and Codman familes; lent by Miss Martha C. Codman, May 26, 1921; included as part of The M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts.